I joined the cult of Allbirds about two years ago when I bought a pair of their slip-on Wool Loungers right before a trip to Europe. Though I didn’t exactly love the way they looked (and hated that half of San Francisco seems to wear them) I found that it was totally true that they are damn comfy. Ever since, I’ve been wearing my Wool Loungers on the regular.

A couple months ago, the thought entered my head that I should also get a pair of their tree fiber shoes. My reasoning was that the wool loungers are sometimes too warm, especially when temperatures rise. Allbirds says the naturally-derived eucalyptus fabric is breathable and cooling. I visited the San Francisco store and tried both the Tree Skippers, which has a boat shoe look, and the Tree Loungers. There’s also the Tree Runners, which look like trainers, and the Tree Breezers, Allbird’s newest shoe, which is a ballet flat. (I’ll review the Breezers in another post.)

Allbirds Tree Loungers

I’ll start with the Tree Loungers since I already own the Wool Loungers and can compare them directly. The main difference, of course, is in the fabric. The tree fabric has a mesh texture, feels lighter, and is meant for warmer temperatures than its wool counterpart. The wool fabric has, well, a wool texture. They have a similar, almost identical look in terms of shape and cut.

Trying them on, though, I couldn’t couldn’t help but notice that the tongue part on the Tree Loungers seem longer than on the Wool Loungers. They look more pronounced to me.

I mean, I didn’t take out my tape measure and measure them. (Maybe I should have). But I don’t think my eyes are deceiving me. For comparison, here’s a photo of my Wool Loungers below. I’m wearing size a size 7 in both shoes. I think the shorter tongue on the Wool Loungers look better.

Anyhow, you are probably wondering how they fit. Allbirds shoes only come in whole sizes. (The one exception is the Tree Breezers, which comes in half sizes.) I’m a wide-ish 6.5 and tried the 7. The Tree Loungers and Wool Loungers fit similarly, which is to say that they slip the tiniest bit in the heel, but not too much to bother me. Wheras the wool stretches a bit though, the eucalyptus tree mesh fabric won’t stretch much, according to one of the workers at the San Francisco store.

I found the Tree Loungers just as comfy as the Wool Loungers. I have to say, they really know what they’re doing when it comes to comfort. All these shoes are super light. They feel cushy, but not overly so. It’s not like your feet are sinking into the insole.

Allbirds Tree Skippers

I don’t like dealing with laces all that much, so usually I’d go for the slip-on shoe. But, I pushed myself to try something different. The Tree Skipper looked a little cuter to me (with less of a pronounced tongue). So I took home a pair in the Coffee color. My thinking was that I could treat them like a neutral.

Once I got them home, though, I realized that I had been tricked a little bit because the shoe looked a little different on the website. On the website, they’re shown with the laces going across the top of the shoe. They’re not tied.

But actually, you have to tie the laces! Duh. Of course. I even tied them in the store! But somehow, it didn’t dawn on me that the look that I preferred (with the laces neatly out of the way) could not be achieved when you’re wearing the shoe. To get that look, you have to tuck the untied laces inside the shoe like so. But you can’t actually wear them like that.

I also realized that the insole in the tree fabric shoes is identical to the ones in the wool shoes. This means the surface is merino wool. While wool is breathable and a temperature regulator, the insoles still felt a little warm to me.

Another thing you should know about the insole is that it’s made from castor bean oil, a more sustainable choice than conventional foam, which is made from petroleum.

In the first few moments wearing these shoes, my wide feet felt a little like they were hanging out over the sides of the insole on the outer edges. But then the shoe seemed to flatten out or correct itself and they were fine. No break in time needed.

But there were things about the look of the Tree Skippers that bothered me. First, I made a bad color choice. Something about the color on me combined with the mesh fabric didn’t work. When I showed them to a friend, she said they had a medical look reminiscent of a bandage. Um, that’s not the look I’m going for.

The bigger problem, though, was that my toes pushed up against the fabric and you could see them. The surface of the shoe was unattractively lumpy. This was particularly pronounced in the big toe area.

Wait a second, was this also happening with my Wool Loungers? As it turns out, yes. I just hadn’t noticed it. I put my hand into my Wool Loungers and discovered that the fabric had thinned right where my big toes hit. Yikes! Because my wool shoes are a dark color, it was not as apparent.

In time, my big toes might just wear holes into the fabric. I worried that the tree fabric wouldn’t survive long given that it felt thinner to me than the wool fabric. I just didn’t have confidence that my toes wouldn’t destroy them in a year’s time. So I decided to return them. You can do so within 30 days, even if you’ve worn them. No questions asked. Indeed, no one asked me why I was returning them. I inquired about the fate of returned worn shoes. Allbirds donates them.

Ah well, these were not for me. I wonder how they fit on other people and whether their toes push against the fabric too. I still think Allbirds make for a great travel shoe given the lightness and the comfort, though not for a rainy destination. I might pick up a darker-colored pair of the Tree Loungers for that purpose.